Past News Releases

SafeShot Technologies, LLC, a leader in safety syringe innovation, continues its quest to end death and suffering caused by accidental needlesticks and global reuse of contaminated syringes. The recent oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, has urged environmentalists to come together and fight all threats that attack our beaches from oil and debris. But who’s tackling the issue of used syringes washing up on our shores and the effects of downstream injuries and environmental waste?

“Shots hurt – especially a shot you didn’t intend to get – possibly for a lifetime,” said Dan Thayer, Co-Founder of SafeShot Technologies. “According to the World Health Organization, someone dies every 24 seconds from an unsafe injection – that’s 1.3 million preventable deaths each year. 22 million are infected with HIV, Hepatitis and more. So why would we just brush another ‘syringe washing up on the beach’ story off as an unfortunate occurrence, when we can eliminate the problem by replacing standard syringes with new technology that ensures all needlesticks are disabled and contained? Imagine a syringe that could only be used once, because it’s designed to make the infected needle go away forever. We did, and it exists today.”

SafeShot Technologies’ affordable Epiphany Safety Syringe – a one-handed, single use, auto-retractable, auto-disposable safety syringe that upon use, retracts and securely holds the contaminated needle portion in the barrel cylinder for disposal eliminating any risk of getting pricked or exposed to blood borne viruses such as Hepatitis or HIV. As the shot is administered, the needle retracts and the syringe itself becomes a Sharps container preventing re-use, downstream injuries and environmental biohazardous waste.

“The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that unsafe injections cause an estimated 250,000 new HIV infections each year,” said Mr. Thayer. “For years, reports of washed up syringes on our coasts have led to the temporary closing of beaches and public alerts. These syringes most likely come from trash and illegally disposed of medical waste which is churned up by storms. It is the law to dispose of syringes in a Sharps container to avoid these types of syringe risks, but infected needles keeping showing up on beaches, dumps and in developing countries.”

For decades, healthcare workers, law enforcers and innocent recipients of unsafe injections, vaccinations and inoculations have all been faced with the risks of contracting deadly diseases with an exposed contaminated needle or the reuse of a contaminated needle.

With the global production of non-safety syringes in the tens of billions, a traditional reusable syringe can be produced for about 10 cents. Due to the higher cost of safety syringes, hospitals have been slow to adopt the latest technology, despite legislation which mandates adoption of the best safety solutions. As a result of its unique design, costs to manufacture SafeShot’s Epiphany Safety Syringe are comparable to a traditional syringe making it more broadly accessible. Not only are the issues of accidental needlesticks, re-used needles, downstream injuries and biohazardous waste are directly addressed with this new innovation, but the SafeShot Epiphany Safety Syringe eliminates the fatal risks and costs associated with getting stuck by a contaminated needle.

This year also marks the 10-year anniversary of the Needlestick Safety and Prevention Act, which requires healthcare facilities to create, maintain, and annually update information on commercially available technology designed to eliminate or minimize occupational exposure to blood-borne pathogens. So, why isn’t this problem getting any better?

“Despite this 10-year old law, the rapid spread of Hepatitis and HIV continues to soar,” said Robert Beart, Emeritus Professor of Surgery at USC’s Keck School of Medicine and CEO of SafeShot. ”We address two avoidable issues. One is needlestick injury and the second is syringe reuse. Both of which are associated with disease that can afflict anyone who is around a contaminated needle – patients, healthcare professionals, sanitation workers, police officers, and even young children digging innocently on the beach! SafeShot is committed to helping raise awareness and eliminate downstream and other needlestick injuries caused by contaminated needles. Whether a diabetic, drug abuser or nurse administering an immunization, all users of syringes must see the shot as a potential lethal weapon that can cause harm to others and as such use safe tools to eliminate future risks.”

About SafeShot Technologies
SafeShot Technologies, headquartered in Mission Viejo, California, is a new generation safety syringe development company with the mission to solve the needlestick issue with innovative technology. The Epiphany Safety Syringe is the first patented vacuum-triggered, one-handed, single-use, auto-retractable, auto-disable safety syringe designed to provide superior value. SafeShot has more than a dozen U.S. patent applications and foreign counterparts in other major jurisdictions to address this growing problem. For more information on SafeShot Technologies and the Epiphany Safety Syringe, please visit http://www.SafeShot.net . Click here to follow on Twitter or Facebook.